When I was writing the song, I thought that these people have entire lives in there. They're not writers, but they all have stories to tell. Some are very, very down deeper than others.

Because of my song 'Sam Stone,' a lot of people thought I was interested in writing protest songs. Writing protest songs always struck me as patting yourself on the back.

The most important ingredient to making a song work is the magic. You've got a melody, you've got words, but on the more successful songs, there's a sort of magic glow that just happens and you can feel it happening. It just makes the songs sort of roll out.

Each song is a child I nourish and give my love to. But even if you have never written a song, your life is a song. How can it not be?

In writing songs I've learned as much from Cézanne as I have from Woody Guthrie.

Music is about listening, the more you play, the more the magic spreads.